Electrical condenser and the operation thereof



J. KATZMAN Oc't. 19, 1937.

ELECTRICAL CONDENSER AND THE OPERATION THEREOF Original Filed Aug. 8, 1933 n R. a O m 1I m 3 m v z N -m b w a J w 2 J 0 9 52 .VJVI/I-I/ W m M a 5. waff@ m 22 m m m w 5 ,www m RWHMIMMMMMMMHMHMZ Y. .V Z

ATTORNEY.

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFlc CONDENSER AND THE OPER- ATION THEREOF Jacob Katzman, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to Nova Electric Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Original application August 8, 1933, Serial No.

ELECTRICAL separated by a fabric 684,164. Divided and thisl application March 13, 1935, Serial No. 10,825

11 Claims.

As is well known to those skilled in the art, it is desirable to use the thinnest possible foil in order to maintain at a minimum the size and cost of the condenser. These foils are usually used as a carrier for the provide an electrolytic condenser using an im- Still another object of my invention is to provide an electrolytic condenser using gauze as the impregnating means and paper as the support for the foil.

Still a further object of my invention is to provide novel means for cooling oil condensers.

Another object of my invention is to provide 10 impregnating electrolyte. 'I'he limitation to the an electrolytic condenser which is compact, simthinness of the foil which can be used is deterple and cheap to construct, and which is suillmined by the tendency of the foil, when it beciently rugged to withstand andv burn out short comes too thin, to buckle and enter the intercircuits. stices of the fabric, thus tending to short-circuit 'I'here are other objects of my invention which i the condenser Accordingly, 1t is necessary to use together with' the foregoing will appear in the a suiliciently thick foil so that'it will have the detailed description which is to follow in connecessary stiffness to hold itself in place. l With nection with the drawing, in which: this it is often found necessary to use two layers Figure 1 is a cross-section of a preferred conof fabric on both sides of the foil to properly indenser developed and magnified considerably to 20 sulate the positive fromv the negative foil. The clearly illustrate the construction.

use of paper separator has also been proposed, Figure 2 is a cross-section shown in developed but paper is not a good carrier for the electrolyte. form of afmodified form of my invention applied In the construction of condensers heretofore, it to oil condensers. has been the practice to use layers of foil of about Figure 3 is a fragmentary view of a preferred 25 .003 thickness or more, separated by one or form of bringing out the terminals; and

more layers of relatively thick gauze of about Figure 4 is a cross-section showing the end .005" thickness, which carries the electrolyte. construction of the condenser shown in Figure 1. When a short-circuit occurred in these condens- Referring to Figure 1, my preferred construcers, the relatively thick foil tended to buckle intion of condenser comprises two foils, a positive 30 wardly at the point of the short-circuit, puncturfoil II and a negative foil I2. As shown, the ing, spreading and tearing the strands of gauze. negative foil I2 which is extremely thin, less than The foils on both sides of the gauze would thus 1 mil thickness and of the order of $4, mil in contact with each other, producing a permanent thickness, is sandwiched between layers of paper short-circuit which rendered the condenser in- I3 and I4. This paper, which is preferably tissue 35 Operative paper, is in the range of 1/2 mil thickness.

\I have discovered that by providing separate The positive foil I'I which is approximately means for the functions of conducting the electhree mils thick, and winch has been preformed rolyte and of spacing, I can use much thinner intheusual manner well known in the electrolayers of foil, and what is more important, I can lytic art, is' 'sandwiched between two layers of `.10 preventv permanent short-circuits by causing the gauze I5 and I6, approximately 5 mils thick. short-circuit to automatically burn itself out. This unit thus assembled is impregnated with an -Such separate functions, I have discovered, can electrolyte in the usual manner and then rolled )best by pelfOrmed by a Combination 0f gauze and into the standard form of electrolytic condenser y Papel respectively. l so that when assembled, the condenser comprises 45 ACCOrdingly, an Object 0f my invention is to a positive foil II, a layer of gauze I5, a layer of provideanovel electrolytic condenser and method paper Il, an extremely thin negative foil I 2, a of operating the same., 1ayer of paper I4, and a layer of gauze I6, as

A further object of my invention is to provide shown 1x1-Figure 4.

an electrolytic condenser using relatively thin As shown in this. latter Figure 4, the ends of 50 fOil- Y the gauze are overlapped as shown at I'I. This Another object of my invention is to provide provides a double layer at the en'd to prevent the an electrolytic condenser which automatically 'endv edges of the foil from cutting through and burns'out short circuits, preventing permanent short circuiting the condenser. I have discovered .ShOrt circuits. f -that in order touse one layer of gauze, it is neces- Still a further object of my invention is to sary to protect the end edges of the foil to prevent a large number of short circuits, particularly the inner edge. Several layers of gauze or paper must be used at the end.

The thin negative foil I2 is suitably supported and held rigidly in place by the thin layers of paper i3 and |43. The gauze in turn functions to absorb and hold the electrolyte such` as ammonium glycerol borate; a solution of borax in glycerine, etc.

With my preferred construction of condenser,

in the event that a short circuit momentarily occurs, the-paper at the point of short circuit punctures in the well known manner. The relatively thin negative foil has a texture such that the heat generated by the current causes it to burn away from the edges of the puncture in the paper before the paper can be consumed by the heat, thus automatically healing the short circuit. This occurs susbtantially instantaneously with the short circuit, thus preventing the heavier positive foil from buckling.

I prefer to employ a relatively thin negative foil rather than a thin positive foil so that the negative foil will burn away to automatically burn out the short circuit. The burnt-away portion of the negative foil does not have any eiect on the capacity of the condenser, as distinguished from the case where the positive preformed foil were to burn away. Such burnt-away spots on the positive preformed foil wouldaiect the capacity of the condenser. 4

As will now be clear, with this construction it, is possible to use extremely thin Vfoil properly supported by the paper which acts to space the foil from the opposite foil. At the. same time,` the gauze properly carries the electrolyte.

When a surge of voltage occurs and a breakdown results, the thin negative foil tends to burn at the point of the short circuit before the vadjacent paper is affected. The thin negative foil burns until the edges of the burnt portion are well spaced fromthe short circuit point, thus automatically burning out the short circuit and again rendering the condenser operative at a higher voltage. The condenser is accordingly operative for a higher break-down voltage as Well as being self-healing. Moreover, as will now be obvious, it consumes less space and is less costly than the usual condenser.

When the positive foil is made the thi-nner foil, the current flowing as a result of the short circuit will automatically form an oxide coating insulation protecting as it at the'same time burns away the foil from the short circuit.

In a further form of my invention disclosed in Figure 2, my condenser is shown as used for the high voltage oil condenser type.v In this construction, each foil 2l and 22 -is sandwiched between layers of paper 23, 2t, 25 and 26. Interpgsed between the foils are also the gauze 21 and 2 The gauze provides a Acomparatively easy path for the ow of oil through the condenser. As is well known, the thermal conductivity of the paper and oil, or paper and wax is so low that the heat generated is not dissipated fast enough and therefore the temprature continues to rise until a breakdown occurs. These points are known as hot spots. With my'preferred construction, the ready owof oil, which the gauze provides, pre- V ventsthe formation of such hot spots.

Although I have shown one preferred forfn of my invention, it will be4 obvious that. this is-merely for purposes of illustration, and that my invention may take other forms. 'I'hua two types of condensers-electrolytc and oilare described,

` but it will beobvious that my invention is applicable to electric condensers in general. Moreover, although for purposes of illustration, I show my positive foil thin and sandwiched between the paper, and sandwich the negative foil between the gauze,.I have also found that I may. use a ner meshed gauze to support the thin foil and eliminate the paper, or I may use a very porous paper, such as blotting paper and eliminate the gauze, or in place of the gauze any perforated insulator such as Celluloid. In the latter case,

the perforations or pores in the Celluloid would be filled with the preferred electrolyte either by brushoperations or automatically over^ rolls as described in greater detail in my co-pending application Serial No. 697,615, filed November 1l, 1933.. I may also use the negative foil which is extremely thin of, for example, 1/2 mil or less thickness, previously mounted on a paper sup- Dort. One of the diiculties of this aluminum foil is in the connection thereto. In Figure 3, I

have shown a preferred construction of terminal. As shown, I just fold a largesheet 25 integral with and extending from the end of the foil along the edge 26. I next fold it along the edges 2l and 28 so that thus folded, it forms an extension having layers 29, 30, 3l and 32, and thus suiiiciently thick to provide a strong lead.

' I claim:

1. An electrolytic condenser comprising a rst cathode foil; a second anode foil; a spacer between said foils impregnated with an electrolyte;

a second spacer of finer texture than the rst impregnated spacer for supporting said first foil; the thickness of the first foil being s umciently thinner than said second foil such that upon a short circuit, the rst foil is rapidly consumed at the region of the short circ'uit by the heat generated by the resulting current flow before the electrolyte and spacer is affected by thel heat for automatically burning away the short circuit. y 2. An electrolytic condenser comprising a relatively thin cathode foil and a second thicker anode foil` and a compositebrous interlay interposed therebetween, said interlay including two superposed elements, one of relatively open mesh and high electrolyte-absorptive capacity, and the other of close texture and lower electrolyte-absorptive capacity, said thinner. foil selectively clearing a short-circuited condition of the condenser, without affecting the capacitance thereof.

3. An electrolytic condenser comprising a relatively thin cathode foil and a second thicker anode foil and a layer of gauze and a layer of paper on one face of one foil, a similar layer of gauze and layer of paper on the other face of the foil, all in superposed relationship, said elements enrolled'to form a convolute condenser structure, said thin foil selectively burning away tive electrode being of the order of one-quarter@V mil thick; a stiffening support for said negative electrode; and a layer of vgauze interposed between said electrodes for conducting electrolyte to said electrodes. I

5. In an electrolytic condenser having a negative electrode; apositive electrode of the order of .003 inch thick; said negative electrode being of the order of one-half mil thick for support-l in the order of one-quarter mil thickness; paper ing said negative electrode; and a layer of gauze interposed between said positive electrode and said paper for holding an electrolyte.

6. In an electrolytic condenser, a relatively thin faces of said thin cathode foil; a relatively thick brous interlay between said foils as an electrolyte carrier, said thin foil quickly burning away at a short-circuit region to prevent a change in the electrical characteristics of the condenser.

, 7. An electrolytic condenser comprising a first metal layer; an electrolyte section juxtaposed 8. An electrolytic condenser comprising a positive metal layer; an electrolyte section juxtaposed against said positive metal layer. and having a predetermined capacitative relation therewith; a negative metal layer substantially thinner than negative metal layer selectively burning away about the region of the short-circuit during operation of the condenser upon a short-circuitedv condition to terminate the shortcircuit without decreasing the capacitance of the condenser.

9. An elecrolytic condenser comprising a. ilrst metal foil layer; an electrolyte section juxtaposed against said ilrst metal foil layer and having a predetermined capacitative relation therewith; a second metal foil layer of the order of .00025 inch thick; said second metal foil layer selectively burning away about the region of the shortcircuit during operation of the condenser upon a short-circuited condition to terminate the short-circuit before heat generated by the short circuit affects said electrolyte section. l

10. An electrolytic condenser comprising a positive metal layer; an electrolyte section juxtaposed against said positive metal layer, and having a predetermined capacitative relation therewith; a negative metal layer of the order of .00025 inch thick, juxtaposed against said electrolyte section for conductively connecting therewith; said negative metal layer selectively burning away about the region of the short-circuit during'the operation oi the condenser upon a. short circuited condition'to terminate the short-circuit without decreasing the capacitance of the condenser.

11. An electrolytic condenser comprising a positive metal foil layer of the order of .003 inch thick; an electrolyte section juxtaposed against said positive metal foil layer and having a predetermined capacitative relation therewith; and a negative metal foil layer of the order oi .00025 inch thick, juxtaposed against said electrolyte section for conductively connecting therewith; said negative metal foil layer selectively burning away about the region of the short circuit during operation of the condenser upon a short-circuited condition to terminate the short-circuit before heat generated by the short-circuit affects said electrolyte section and without decreasing the capacitance of the condenser.

JACOB KA'IZMAN. 

